Former Sen. Bill Emmerson to oversee lobbyists for hospital group

Bill Emmerson, a Republican from Redlands, recently resigned as a state senator has since been named a senior vice president of the California Hospital Assn. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

SACRAMENTO -- A week after resigning from the state Senate, Republican Bill Emmerson of Redlands has been named a senior vice president of the California Hospital Assn., where he will oversee the group’s in-house and contract lobbyists.

Emmerson follows others who have quit the Legislature to oversee lobbying of lawmakers for a private interest, without becoming registered lobbyists themselves. Former Sen. Michael Rubio did so this year, abruptly resigning to head government affairs for Chevron. Lawmakers are barred from themselves lobbying their legislative colleagues for one year.

Emmerson, 68, resigned from the Senate effective Dec. 1, saying, "In these past few months, my passion has waned and my constituents deserve a senator with the level of commitment that I once had."

An orthodontist by profession, Emmerson takes over as the hospital group's senior vice president of state relations and advocacy starting Jan. 1.

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In addition to overseeing the hospital group's state-level legislative advocacy efforts, Emmerson will provide political analysis and strategic guidance in the development of the assocation's public policy objectives.

"Bill is among the most respected and thoughtful leaders that I've ever had the pleasure of working with," said C. Duane Dauner, president and chief executive of the association. "He is a person of high integrity, and his knowledge of healthcare and the political process will be invaluable to California's hospitals."